I wrote this post for MetroImma and we couldn't run it but I really liked it so I am going to post it here, enjoy! (Thanks to Cindy, who got the piece started.)
New Year, New You?Some Jews get offended if you refer to January 1st as The New Year, as if recognition of it somehow undermines the legitimacy of Rosh HaShanah. It doesn’t have to be a huge celebration or even a nod to secularism or other faiths. But there’s also no reason why we shouldn’t use every opportunity to take stock of our behavior, achievements and goals. I don’t know about you, but the heart-felt fervor I feel in Tishrei tends to wear off a little by the time Kislev rolls around, so I for one am not too proud to use this opportunity for yet another fresh start. It’s pretty easy to act like you mean it with Yom Kippur looming around the corner, so when you’re buttressed between feel-good Hannuka and sweet ole Tu B’Shvat, is a little non-Jewish, non-religious reckoning such a terrible thing?On New Years Eve we hope that this will be the year we stick to our diet, earn that raise and be a better daughter or parent. New Years resolutions are certainly not a bad thing, that is, if you remember where you wrote them down. On Rosh Hashanah, we don’t just cross our fingers and hope for the best, but spend time looking back, taking stock, and accepting responsibility for all that we have done, and not done. More than just the beginning of a new Jewish year, it’s another revolution in an unbroken cycle connecting us to those who went before us, dating back thousands of years.So on the secular New Years, we are given a three-month performance evaluation with the boss. On Rosh Hashanah you really were sorry for not spending more time with your kid after dinner. You wanted to fix that. Have you? What have you done so far this year that you might need to do teshuvah for? How can you prevent yourself from doing these things again?Yes, the secular New Year isn’t something that is distinctly Jewish but it is certainly something that impacts our lives. (Just try writing 13 Adar, 5771 on your checks in America and see the stares you will get!) We can take this day as a post it note reminder, a pop up alert on your Google Calendar, a last minute text message to keep refining who we are. It is easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day details. However, when the world seemingly screeches to a halt between Christmas and New Years, what better time for a personal check up and check in?
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